Disability in Childhood, Special Education Histories, and Lifetime Health Outcomes in the United States

Objectives: We evaluated special education as an indicator of childhood disability and used that indicator to estimate lifetime dependency and life expectancy. Methods: Data: Panel Study of Income Dynamics and Health and Retirement Study (n = 20,563). Dependency: Nursing home care or equivalent. Analysis: We first analyzed special education as an indicator of childhood disability; multinomial logistic Markov models and microsimulation then compared populations with and without childhood disability. Results: Special education history was a valid indicator of childhood disability. For example, with parents who did not complete high school, 3.8% with no special education history were dependent at least 5 years of adult life; that result with special education was 15.2%. Life expectancy from age 20 was 58.3 years without special education, 46.0 years with special education (both p < .05). Discussion: Special education history can indicate childhood disability. People with that history had significantly a more dependency than others and significantly shorter lives.